One of the troubles being a business man is that you are always trying to save the pennies.
I am near to completion on my swimming pool, in the garden of my house.
However, there was a rather large tree that blocked out a lot of the sunshine.
I therefore decided that this tree had to go, so the tree surgeon arrives, tuts a bit, shakes his head, breathes in and tells’ me that it is going to cost me £1000 to get the tree down. £1000, forget it I’ll do it myself…..my first job when I left school was taking trees down, how hard can it be?!
So I committed myself to taking this tree down, the gauntlet had been laid down, the challenge had been set and I accepted, pay somebody a grand when I can do it myself cheaper, never!
The first weekend was spent surveying the tree. I then went out and bought a chainsaw, at £340.
My ladder, even though extended to its full potential would not reach the top (bear in mind this is a 200ft high tree), so I bought £250 worth of climbing gear, (keeping up with the cost here?)
The second weekend, I got myself all strapped up, harness, quick release etc, and I still needed another rope at £150, and up I went.
The tree has now left my garden at the total cost of £740 worth of equipment, two weekends of not only my time but two of my guys, and the cost of putting my own life at risk!
For those watching, and you know who you are, this may have been an amusing event, me hanging like a monkey from the tree, and to be honest, not feeling that confident, bits of tree going everywhere, including a very near miss of my neighbors pride greenhouse!
All in all I think that it may have cost me slightly more than the £1000 that the tree surgeon quoted me!
Saying all this though, I would do it again. Something like this sets me aside from other people, people like me who accept challenges set before them. It puts you a step ahead of everybody else, and makes you stand out from the crowd.